Disney Academy
by ToTheSkye
Summary: After years of Disney Heroes saving the day and having happy endings, it only makes sense that they all come together to teach their kids how to follow in their footsteps. But, c'mon, it's high school! Not everyone's going to get along, and there's a few unsettling rumors spreading through the school about one of the Administrators.
1. A New Year, A New School

**Disclaimer: **I own no copyrights affiliated with any Disney film, characters, or items thereof and therefore do not have any monetary gain in writing and publishing this story. I do, however, own the rights to my own OC's to be mentioned in this story: Leanne Hawkins, Arthur Robinson, Renak, and Mitzi, as well as any others I may create as the story continues. I do not own the rights to any OC's submitted and used in the story, I only have expressed permission by their creators to exploit them.

_Enjoy!_

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**"Welcome, young students, to the campus of Disney Academy! Here you will live and thrive, learn and-!"**

Intercoms littered throughout the school blasted these generic messages from the moment the first teacher arrived and well into the morning as the halls filled with children of all ages. Some ignored the noise, walking with purpose towards a crowd of friends or perhaps merely dismissing it as white noise in the background. Others basked in the glory of being a student at this new school, where they planned on exploiting every option and making the most out of what this new adventure would throw at them. And still others, like one student in particular, had only just arrived at the beginning our tale and barely registered that anyone was even speaking.

And we go now to this young lady mentioned as the story unfolds, for there is always a grand scheme afoot when it comes to the world of Disney...

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**Leanne Hawkins**

Heart pounding, blood racing, arms aching. Goodness, those'd be lyrics to a terrible song! But they're perfect to describe my current situation, hauling ass on the first day of school just to keep from being late. Not my _worst_ first day, that honor would belong to 7th grade when it was raining and the bus I used to get to school broke down, but it would still be high on my list of _Freshman Year No-No's_. Very high.

But as I ran down the street, sweat already starting to form in embarrassing places, I was reminded of that day two years ago and thought to myself _Gee, this is some major déjà vu._ What, with my dad's old-and-now-new solar surfer under my arm after glitching out a mile shy of the campus border. So I had to run the rest of the way with a heavy piece of junk on the very first day. This wouldn't have happened if Dad had just dropped me off here _a week ago_.

Like a normal kid!

After all my ordeals and morning troubles I finally sighted the campus once more. I paused in my running for a second, marching in place and patting the brick walls that led to the front gate for luck. With the sentiment out-of-the-way I broke into a sprint to the gate with glee. No, I wasn't excited to start school. I was fucking _stoked_ to make some new friends. Not trying to brag, but I consider myself to be pretty likeable and it beats going through high school with only my roommate to talk to. That would be horrid.

Turning the corner of the gate - and slipping between a couple of guys just standing there staring like they'd hit the jackpot - I felt like I was home free and ready to rule the world. Yeah, that's swell until you run into someone. I dunno if it was my brain not registering that there was a boy standing directly in my path or if he'd just stepped in the way at the wrong time, but we both crashed to the cement like bowling pins sprawled across the ground.

"Ow!" He whined, lifting a hand up to pick a book up off his chest that he'd apparently been carrying or reading before the incident. The boy then dropped it next to him on the ground and propped himself on his shoulders to stare at me like I'd grown some sort of tumor on my noggin. I ignored his gaze, standing up from having landed on my stomach and brushing dirt from a small scrap on my arm. My solar surfer had skidded a way's away near the feet of a bunch of girls, but when I looked over hoping for a helping hand they just scoffed and carried on whispering to each other fervently. _Tch, typical._

I offered a hand down to him, of which he reluctantly took, and helped to hoist him to his feet. Muttering a quick "Sorry" I stomped over to where my ride had gone - the area now vacant since those other girls had hit the trail when they noticed I was entering their little "personal bubble" - to pick it up once more. The boy I'd crashed into yelled something after me but it got drowned out by the roar of all the other students milling around the courtyard and I refused to go back and risk _both_ of us being late to wherever we had to meet first.

My dad had received both my schedule and a map about a month ago, both tucked safely inside my messenger bag, and there had been mention of an assembly of some sort in the invitational letter, but no further news was provided about where the heck I was meant to go first: the auditorium or my first class. I pondered the idea of asking some one in the front office where the Principal or Headmaster or whatever had us scheduled to go when a familiar voice spoke up to my left.

"It has been awhile, Leo."

I couldn't believe it, but my ears have never lied to me before. Spinning on a heel I turned to face the skinny blonde boy I thought I'd never see again. He looked just as I remembered him: curly blonde hair and pastel blue eyes, an all-knowing smirk super glued onto his face. "Matty-kins!"

His smirk wavered for a second before he sighed, the "routine" returning. "I remember telling you to call me by my given name. But, it is still nice to see you." He pushed off of the brick wall he had been leaning against to pull me into a hug, which I gladly accepted. I wondered for a moment if anyone else from his side of the universe was attending the school too, but chose to ignore that curious notion.

"I would totally call you 'Matthieu', but it's such a mouthful." I countered after letting him go, holding the solar surfer angled beneath my arm to keep it from stabbing him or anyone moving around behind me. "Hey, quick question: do you know where we're supposed to go first? I'm not sure if we head to first period or if we get our dorm situations settled first."

We both began walking down a corridor path that led towards an unusually plain building - strange, because when we traded our first impressions we both had figured everything would look like a storybook paradise. The roof was a red wedge of tiles and the walls were off-white, but when we got closer a sign read across the glass doors **Administration**. When we were a few feet away Matthieu turned away and began walking towards an open field around the back of the building, where a giant in-ground ampitheatre was carved into a small hill. Students of all walks of life were making bee lines toward the place, some quicker than others, I suppose, to get the best seats or reserve spots for friends. "There was a letter sent out late a week or two ago saying to report to the Ampitheatre on account of dorm placement. It mentioned a personalized quiz, but not many people recieved it I guess because of mailing issues world-wide - or in _your_ case universally. And _Matthieu_ is less of a mouthful than 'Matty-kins', Leo."

"Alright, you've got me beat!"

We both laughed on our way to our seats, bickering over where to take our places until one of Matt's friends that I hadn't ever met before - William Hatter, he introduced himself as, "but you can call me 'Will'" - waved us both over. We exchanged pleasantries and boasted about our respective parentage but in the end I lost Matt's attention and settled with staring around the enormous crowd. How many people could they fit in one school? The curved seating arrangement took up half a football field's length alone! Every now and then I'd catch someone's gaze, other people just gawking at the sheer size of their new home, but no one too memorable popped out at me. And of course, after a moment of a roaring chatter all around, a silence like a magic spell descended on the crowd and two lines of adults entered from the left and right of the stage up front. From the very middle stepped, well... a mouse. Or at least, she/it/they looked like a mouse. Long tail, large black ears, somehow walking in a bipedal position, but an adorable pink bow. Not that I like pink or anything.

She - I'm very certain it was a girl - stepped up to an oak lecturn gilded with lillies along the side that automatically adjusted to her size. She grabbed up a thin stack of papers from the stand and handed them to another mouse that dashed out from the side of the theater to take them off the stage. When that matter was settled she cleared her throat once like she was going to speak and then lowered her shoulder to let something off of her shoulder. A flea? A green flea with... a top hat, and a fancy suit.

There's the strangeness I was missing.

* * *

**Arthur Robinson**

"Pardon me, everyone, if ya can't quite see me very well." Began the humble Jiminy Cricket. "It's not my place to speak in front of the whole school, but our Headmaster is quite busy with other preparations so he asked us two Guidance Counsellors to step in for him." I wondered how much finagling this "Headmaster" had to do to get _him_ to be on the staff. Of course, he was a very generous character so it may not have taken that much. _Ugh_, I had to mentally scold myself. _Stop talking like we're still in the future. He isn't dead _yet.

I could hear snickering behind me, the Populars having set up base camp in the row directly behind me. I figured they had some sort of radar to tell them who were the nerds and where they were at, but thankfully they didn't seem to pay me much mind. They were going on whispering about how Jiminy was lucky he didn't teach any classes because they'd never take him seriously - someone even brought up the idea of squashing them under their boot - and I was very tempted to point out that some of them died in very horrendous ways later in life but bit my tongue quite literally to keep from talking. It's hard to be the son of Cornelius Robinson, harder still to be from the future but living in the "present".

Despite all this going on Jiminy and Minnie were still going on and explaining the purpose of the school-wide meeting. Minnie had stepped forward now, removing the microphone from its stand so as to keep from literally talking over poor Jiminy. "Now I understand we're all excited to start our first year together here at Disney Academy," Minnie began in her caring manner. "but before we can completely settle into things Jiminy and I have decided on a fair and personalized way to figure out who'll be bunking with whom and which dorms they'll be using. Sadly we had to wait until everyone arrived, but don't worry too much, because we'll have everyone's arrangement and dorm assignments fixed before lunch and after 4th period. At that time you may all drop off any of your possesions that you've given to us for safe keeping into your respective dorms and then be back on your way to the cafeteria."

Jiminy hopped back onto Minnie's shoulder to speak into the microphone, tipping his hat down to Mickey who still held the stack of papers from earlier. "Now, my dear friend and one of your new Administrators is going to pass out the 'quiz' for your dorm assignments. We ask that you answer as truthfully as possible, you'll be each other's new best friends for the rest of the year, after all."

As expected, a chorus of hushed laughter erupted behind me. I myself couldn't help but wonder how Mickey would manage to pass them out to this large crowd. The last thing I could imagine would be the papers just appearing in my lap, everyone's laps in fact, so of course it would happen. _How could I forget, Mickey was a sorcerer's apprentice once._

"Now there isn't any rush," Minnie piped up. "no need to leave out important information. But we would like to get them in as quickly as possible so we can begin the school day."

It seemed like that was the gist of the meeting and I glanced down at the quiz. Two and a half papers, plenty of space to write. _How many roommates would you like?_ Maybe two or three. _What kind of roommate would you like?_ I guess they meant personality-wise. That would make the most sense - but with a school like this you never truly knew. I quickly scribbled down my answers and folded the paper up. I could feel a gaze behind me and figured one of the Populars tried being smart and purposefully wrote down the same things as me.

_That_ plan wouldn't backfire.

The quiz papers vanished from our hands when everyone was done and I noticed Minnie and Jiminy had left the stage. Instead of the mouse and cricket, a graying woman stepped forward. I knew it couldn't be possible, _she_ shouldn't be here. Another student must have known something as well because way off on the other end of the audience someone stood up and yelled something that was lost in the sea of murmurs. Several of the faculty onstage seemed put off as well, and I could see Cinderella in particular look away as she shuffled at the end of the line of teachers. Mickey had, at that time, stepped back up to stand beside the woman, but even he was nervous about the situation it seemed.

"Now then," Spoke the elder woman. "since we've settled those matters I assume it's time to begin introducing your superiors." A pause broke her commanding voice as Mickey leaned up to whisper something to her. "Hm, I mean your _teachers_. If you do not yet know me, you may call me either Mrs. or Lady Tremaine. Nothing else shall suffice."

Mickey spoke up once more, trying to act cheerful for our sakes. "And I'm sure most of you all know who I am, Mickey Mouse. Mrs. Tremaine and I will be your main Administrators for both the animal and humanoid classes. She and Mrs. Doppler will be those you go to if you are human or human-like, Zazu and I will be available for the animal students." Here he motioned off towards the crowd behind him and stepped back as, one-by-one, the faculty introduced themselves.

Some of them surprised me to be honest, mostly the animal teachers since as of then I had no clue we even had animal _students_. Some of them just flew over my head unless I remembered them from my schedule, but I made a mental note to memorize some faces: Tiana and Naveen taught Home Economics and Royal Etiquette, respectively; there were several lions that taught several different kinds of animal classes; there was a Gym teacher who introduced herself as Helga Sinclair, I remember her because she had several burn scars on her body; and of course Merlin himself was present, teaching some course called Magical Studies.

Once everyone seemed satisfied and had gotten their proper intro, the teachers and other staff members began to file off the stage and take up spots near the exits. I figured that was the end of the meeting and stood up along with several others around the area. Without really meaning to, I turned to look back at the few adults still standing on the stage. Lady Tremaine stood with a scowl on her face, and by that point another woman had walked over to glower at the students as well. Drizella, seriously? How many other villains made it onto the staff? Tremaine was supposed to still be a frog, she'd been turned into one after trying to rewrite history. I knew all about people changing the past.

"Hey blondie, get moving!" With a frown I turned to see the girl I had been sitting next to tapping her feet impatiently. Just my luck, another chick I've made angry. I dipped my head, embarassed, and shuffled out of the row in silence. Women were always right, my mom had cemented that into my brain before I left home. I trudged up the aisle with all the others trying to escape the claustrophobia cage and breathed a sweet sigh of relief when I hit open air. I had high hopes for this year, I wouldn't be "Wilbur's brother" here. No, I planned on making my own name in this place. Look out world, Arthur Robinson's gonna rock you!

...

That sounded better in my head...

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**AN: **Yes, this is an SYOC. Submission info will be on my profile. _I will not accept characters through review._


	2. Memorizing Faces

**A/N:** In a perfect world {otherwise known as _Not This One_}, I would have had this chapter published a week ago. But of course, being our lovely, charming, _amazing_ world of Earth, that couldn't be possible.

Ugh.

I won't give any excuses for this chapter's lateness, you can read that rant on my profile if I bother to post it.

Please forgive any errors as far as actual historical timeline discontinuities, failure to remember details from character profiles, and other such mistakes. I'm trying my hardest to get everything to make sense.

I'd like to note something about the story's setting: I've pointed this out to some of the submitters of characters but the idea is to take the characters from Canonverse Disney movies, without changing the timeline or mannerisms too majorly, and sticking them in a somewhat modern day "world", of sorts, where the Academy is. If you need to, try and imagine it like the Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts {as much as this story _isn't_ KH, it resembles it in some physics} where time flows in the worlds, but not necessarily in unison. Their individual stories take place at normal pace when in the world they take place in, but put two different worlds side-by-side and one can move twice as quickly as the other.

It makes sense in my head, I swear.

Also, the school is supposed to be completely new, having finished construction the past summer. There'll be a university under construction to be mentioned later in the story, giving me the chance to write a spin-off if I feel like it.

And as far as the characters from different movies that know each other, it would most likely be one character {let's use Leanne in this example} travelling _unknowingly_ into another world {say for instance, Matthieu's world of _Beauty and the Beast_} and it may _feel_ like they've travelled to a different part of their own world but they've passed through a portal or a veil hiding the border... I can't explain it any other way.

Note: OC submissions are now closed. For information on the Final List please check my profile to see who all has made it.

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**Disclaimer: **I own no copyrights affiliated with any Disney film, characters, or items thereof and therefore do not have any monetary gain in writing and publishing this story. I do, however, own the rights to my own OC's to be mentioned in this story: Leanne Hawkins, Arthur Robinson, Renak, and Mitzi, as well as any others I may create as the story continues. I do not own the rights to any OC's submitted and used in the story, I only have expressed permission by their creators to exploit them.

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**Jin Wen Li**

My sister and I were both vigorously reminded before arriving at Disney Academy that we'd most likely be the only Chinese students attending. It was a hard fact that has been solidified in my brain since receiving my invitation, and the same for Xiu. But I defend myself by saying that never in my life have I felt more like an outcast. A seagull among falcons with only my baby sister to compare to.

_Calm down, Jin. I didn't study hard to learn English just to chicken out now._ I reasoned with myself as Xiu and myself were herded out of the Ampitheatre. _Besides, there are probably a hundred others in this crowd feeling the same way. There's that bear to consider, and the two lions I saw at the front of the audience; they'll feel more left out than me!_ That was true, and either way I _had_ to do this. Not just for Mother and Father, but for Xiu as well. She's a 9th grader, the most likely to get picked on. Even if it kills me socially - or literally, as I can't forget seeing some of the bulky men almost twice my size - I have to stand up for her.

"Jin, I'm not sure I can do this..." Xiu had a firm grip on my forearm and she was whimpering like a pup. "Maybe, if it's not too late, we can go talk to that Administrator and tell them I've decided to go back to China." I want to cave in, to tell her it'll be fine to do as she asked and make good on that promise; that's how far I'd go if I hadn't already made another promise to Mother.

_"Whatever she tells you, Jin Wen, do not let her back down to this challenge. I will know if she gives up, because I will be teaching there with the staff." _Mother's words echo needlessly at the back of my mind. I already know that I have to encourage her to stay, because truthfully I don't want to be alone here. But I wouldn't admit that, so calmly I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Xiu, it'll be fine. Just go to your first class and don't say too much. If someone asks you about yourself just say that you're shy and want to get used to the school system before you make friends. _Mǔqīn _tried to get us as many classes together, so I'll see you in the 2nd class."

Xiu visibly relaxed a bit, but by the way she kept looking around I knew it hadn't helped much. Holding back a sigh, I turned her gently to face me and gave her a smile. In turn, she smiled back, although feebly. "I promise you, I'll do anything to protect you here. But you've got to learn to do some of it on your own. _Zhù nǐ shùnlì_."

"_Wǒ ài nǐ, gēge_." She pulled me into a hug, gentle enough to tell me she'd at least try. I mumbled back an "I love you, too." before letting go. Her brown eyes shone with more confidence than I'd ever seen her display, and before I could say anything more she took off into the crowd. A grin spread on my face and I followed suit, happy that I'd spent several days memorizing the layout.

Most of the hallways were outdoors unless you travelled through the hallway leading from the Main Office towards the Cafeteria, and I relished the warm late summer breeze that forced its way through the winding pathways of the school. I replayed the scene in the Ampitheater as I walked to my first class, but none of it made much sense to me. Some boy a few rows below me had exclaimed either in fright or fury when Mrs. Tremaine had stepped forward, but other than the obvious discomfort on the boy's part I couldn't tell what was so wrong with her. She looked like a normal elderly lady to me. Of course, all the staff here are somehow related to the students or know them on some level, more or less. Maybe they _did_ know each other. But that didn't necessarily bother me, not directly anyway.

I dropped the subject once my classroom was in sight and shouldered the rucksack I held to keep from looking too lazy. First impressions counted here, I'd be stuck in this place for a long while.

Once I entered the room I felt that strange sense of ostracism frowning over my head. Several pairs of eyes were on me, I was the only one that looked like, well, _me_. Although I noted that a few others, mostly sitting in the rear end of the room, were receiving the cold shoulder as well. Without a word I moved to a seat near the front, a particularly chosen seat that was in the corner near the door. Easy in, easy out. About a minute went by and the rows of seats were filling up. I noticed, admittedly, that the seats both beside and behind me were empty, but that problem was fixed just as the tritone ringing of bells sounded from outside and a girl who had just managed to get in the classroom literally dropped into the seat next to me.

She had short brown hair, a natural color for Westerners, but it was cropped just below her ears and instead of some silly headband to keep her hair at bay there was, in its place, a pair of bronze goggles with a leather strap. She recovered from her dash quickly and we locked eyes immediately. Brown as well, the color of cocoa beans. "Hi there!" She whispered, holding a hand up to her mouth, I suppose, to either amplify her voice or keep it from being heard. "Guess we're stuck being friends now, huh?"

As discourteous as it was, I just stared back in silence. Was this some way of making friends for her? Rather direct, but she didn't seem at all like the troublemaking type aside from the look in her eyes. Excitement, and by the looks of her tapping feet, hyperactivity. She was actually looking forward to school...

I'd opened my mouth to make a comment back, to tell her I supposed that it'd be fine if we tried to get along, but the door closed suddenly and a man dressed in typical Western style clothing walked over to the chalkboard at the front of the room. He had messy brown hair, not dark like my new friend's but golden. It rivalled some of the hair I'd spotted on my fellow classmates, as if it were the offspring of both colors. And strange glass bifocals, I recognized those from my adventures out West to the deserts and the easternmost parts of Europe. He picked up a white stick of chalk and quickly scribbled something in large lettering.

"Good morning, class." He said aloud; the accent was strange, unlike most of the Western styles of speech I'd heard. I had truthfully only heard that accent once before arriving here, a man visiting a western port had claimed to be from the "New World" and that he was born and raised there. The man turned to smile at his class, but by the slightly disappointed look in his eyes I could only assume he'd wanted us to say something back to him. "Yes, well, anyway! My name is Milo Thatch, Mr. Thatch if you prefer. I don't mind what you call me, just so long as it's done with some respect. Welcome to Otherworldly Mythology!"

Mr. Thatch moved over to his desk, picking up a thin stack of paperwork and adjusting his glasses. "I'll take down the seating chart and attendance, so as I go down the rows just tell me your name and who your parents are. Just so we can start getting to know you." Wooden pencil in hand, he set forth down my row and I suddenly wished that I'd picked the farthest seat from here. He gave me an expecting look from behind the bifocals and I resisted the urge to look away. "Li Jin Wen, my mother is Li-Fa Mulan and my father is Li Shang."

He looked a bit surprised, turning quickly to scroll his gaze over the papers. "Ah, Mulan's son. I wish I taught your sister, as well, it'd be such an honor. Here we are: row one, seat one. Jin Wen Li. Unless you'd prefer to be called something else?" I shook my head at that and tried to look straight ahead at the board. Eventually he kept going down the aisle and I breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to say anything more. I wasn't able to catch many of the names of people behind me, but I sat erect when Mr. Thatch returned to the front to address my new friend.

"Leanne Coulter Hawkins, but I answer to Leo." The girl, Leanne, spoke with more confidence than I'd figured. I wondered why she chose such a strange name to call herself, "Leo", before noticing that she wore strange _clothes_ as well. A thin, linen shirt that only covered the uppermost region of her shoulders and _trousers_, something I assumed from experience in my travelling to be a taboo in the West. "Father's James Hawkins and my mom's Eleanor Gennings-Hawkins, and I come from the planet Montressor. Not as swanky as here, I'll admit, but I love it all the same."

Mr. Thatch laughed at this, however, and reached forward to ruffle her hair up as though she were an adolescent boy who'd just proclaimed he'd do something impossible. "Miss Hawkins, yes, I know _all_ about you. Your father gave the school fair warning about your shenanigans. I'm glad you're here in this class, I don't know as much about the universe's mythology as I'd like so you'll be my teacher's pet when I run aground. Sound fair?"

"Alrighty, Milo, just don't ask me to stay after school to tutor you." To my surprise, they both laughed and Mr. Thatch just continued down the line with a bigger grin on his face. I snuck a glance over at Leanne and she smirked rather confidently back at me.

Just behind her was another girl who seemed just as excited, if not more, than Leanne. Her head was tilted at a comfortable angle, sending blonde locks falling to the side. "Viola Aldjoy, but my godparents call me Rose sometimes. My parents are Queen Aurora and King Philip."

Even for a Western girl, she was quite pretty. She was young, but she had mature beauty hiding the child within. I was glad I could mask my respect well, especially as I caught several other men around the room eyeing her and gaping. Compared to Viola, no one else seemed to be as important, but there were still a few that caught my eye. Some, even, that I regret seeing here.

The first memorable face after the princess was a boy who spoke with a distinct accent unlike the rest - I recognized it as German. He sat straight with a confident but calm smile. "Joachim A. Fiedler, son of Snow White."

Mr. Thatch, after gathering the rest of the class's names and heritage, approached the very back of the class cautiously. I give him credit, the first of the last two students was watching him carefully through somewhat narrowed eyes. She straigtened with a grin, looking rather proud of herself. "Nithranyx Lyanne Fletcher, my father was Theon Fletcher." She ended with a curt nod, as though that were all she needed to say.

But Mr. Thatch blinked at her, looking side to side before speaking again. "Um, if you don't mind my asking, who is your father? I mean, I'm sorry, but I don't really recognize-"

"I apologize for interjecting, but neither of us like to speak about our mothers, as they're not very popular."

All heads turned towards the girl sitting behind Nithranyx, a slim woman with raven-colored hair. Her dark brown eyes were bright, but she seemed nervous now that she'd snagged the attention of the class. "N-Nymeria, Nymeria Rhaegar Arryn. My father is Robert Arryn."

"Oh, well... Ahem, Disney Academy is a safe haven for all children, even if their parents or guardians aren't royalty or heroes of war." Mr. Thatch said reassuringly, looking between the two. "Some of our students may plan to follow in their parents' footsteps or forge their own path. Some may just want to live a normal life. But for whatever reason they attend, everyone is on the same level here, and we discourage harrassment of any kind."

Nymeria smiled a bit wider, though Nithranyx still seemed sour over the subject. "With all due respect, Sir, I'd rather not go by my mother's label."

By that point the teacher seemed to give up pining after their hidden information, and began to introduce himself. Many of us were thouroughly surprised to find that he was a king himself - he inheritted the throne once he married the princess of Atlantis. I myself found it interesting that he started from the humble beginnings of a, what was it, linguist? We even had a small back-and-forth chat in Mandarin before a loud knock on the door interupted my reply.

When Mr. Thatch opened the classroom door to let in the person at the door, I felt like the Huns themselves had rampaged through the entryway and ran over my chest on horseback. _That girl_ stood there explaining that she'd had to retrieve her schedule from the Front Office, and _that girl_ turned to stare at me. _It's been years, she can't recognize me now! _

"Let's see, Sahar Masih. Aladdin's daughter, it's nice to meet you Miss Masih. I'm afraid the only open seat is behind Mr. Li here, but I'm sure you'll be great friends."

I had to get out of here, _now_.

* * *

**William Hatter**

First period ended with rather dull events. I didn't particularly care for any of the other students, though they seemed a bit put off by me. The only interesting person there was dear old Matt, whom I've been friends with for as long as I can recall. It's no real surprise that we had the same class, in fact all of our classes were the same, because who in their right mind would break up such a dynamic duo? Better yet, even myself, proclaimed stark raving mad by professionals and my own parents, wouldn't think of such an idea!

"William, hurry on now. We've got Musical Studies to go to and I'm interested to see this Gean person who teaches it." Matthieu was looming over me, looking adorably annoyed that I hadn't made a move to leave my seat.

To be honest, I was intrigued by the idea as much as my pal, but why should I hurry? "Matt, silly boy, it's _Genie_, not Gean." I corrected him from my position, head on the ground and my feet sticking up where my upper body should be. _You told me to plant my butt in my seat, and so it is. I don't see a problem here._ "If you can't tell the difference between something simple as such _I'm_ rather worried that you may be more off-your-rocker than I am."

Matthieu sighed, laying his bag down to shove my feet to the side and sending them crashing beside my head. It didn't hurt, just a small thud, but I got the message and put in the extra effort to stand. "Oh come off it, William, you know my _anglais_ isn't as well as yours when it comes to reading. Now that you're right way's up let's just get to our next class, perhaps there will be people as crazy as you to converse with." And, sparked by the very idea, we set off towards the Ampitheatre.

Musical Studies was what they called a "joint class", like most electives. You could have a number of other children from 9th to 12th grade in the same class and be learning the same material. What made it different from regular classes, moreover, was that even if you were a senior you could be taking the class's Level I exam, and vice versa with the lower grades. It's horribly shameful to be learning things that a Freshman should be absorbing.

"_Hello_, and welcome to Musical Studies. Taught by the great and magnificent _me_, Genie!" We could hear the commotion before we reached the edge of the seats. Matt and I exchanged one look before deciding on our opinion.

"This should be fun."

We climbed onto the large stage where the school meeting had taken place not an hour ago to be greeted by a large, chesty blue man. Of course, I knew Absolem, a blue caterpillar who loved to spew toxic smoke into my face, so I couldn't see much difference. At least this Genie person seemed more optimistic. He ushered his students into a circle and directed us to take a seat, showing off, in a child-like manner, his authority. "Now then, are we all here?"

Everyone remained silent, though I saw a few heads nod as though they could just get through school by agreeing with the teacher regardless of the terms. "Is said, 'Are we all here?'!" Genie yelled louder, egging us on until the crowd called back a mixture of "Yes, sir"'s. "Good! Now, before we get started let's all get acquainted with each other. I'm Genie-" Here he broke off, motioning with a hand for us to respond with "Hi Genie" as though we were a part of some rehabilitation group. "And I can do this!" In the blink of an eye he changed into a large, blue goose. Goose-Genie honked into the air, racing around the circle repeating the sound at several different pitches and giving everyone a good laugh. When he eventually changed back he motioned towards a boy sitting a few spots over to follow suit.

"My name is Joachim."

"Hi Joachim!"

"And I sing." Taking a large breath, the boy stood to extend both arms and belt out in a lovely baritone voice. "_Nachtigall, ich hör dich singen, S'Herz im Leib möcht mir zerspringen; Komme du und sag mir wohl, Wie ich mich verhalten soll, Wie ich mich verhalten soll_." He did a small jig as he sang, grinning for the crowd and having a well-met, grand old time in the spotlight. He ended with a bow and pointed to the person sitting next to him, which meant the order would be proceeding in my direction.

Anyone else might begin to worry over what they'd do to impress the crowd, and I suppose for the flick of a butterfly's wing I, too, worried over the subject. But it didn't last long, I'm William Hatter after all! Being mad, a proven source of entertainment, is in my genetic code.

The last to go before me was another boy named Erik, who sang a lovely Gaelic ditty. The only fault was that he couldn't quite hit some of the high notes and it sounded like a dying cat. I clapped vigorously for him in good sport and leaped to my feet. Drawing a hand into my coat pocket, I brought forth my handsome hand-me-down top hat and placed it eloquently atop my crown.

"Call me Will."

"Hi Will!"

My grin widened as some of the females in our group watched with much more fervor than before. "And I futterwacken!" The looks of interest turned into laughter and surprised gasps as I danced, which only led me to continue. Vanity is a side effect of the spotlight, after all, and Matt was patient enough for me. I finished my festivities with a bow, as is traditional, and flashed a smile at the nearest dame available: wavy black tresses and sharp green eyes. I'd make a note to introduce myself as quickly as possible.

I took my seat once more and Matt nudged my side before replacing me on the stage, obviously catching my pointed look. "Slow down, tiger, it isn't even past the first day!" He hissed, grinning mischievously. In response, I shoved him from behind, causing the blonde to stumble and shoot a glare back at me. "I'm Matthieu."

"Hi Matthieu!"

And for a good five minutes of this routine, the entire class had finally introduced themselves. More dancing and singing and other such talents had taken place, a duet from two girls who seemed to already know each other, another boy dancing rather sheepishly (I'd like to believe he needed a partner, and that was why he was reluctant.), and the raven-haired girl whom I'd spotted had danced a rather, hm, _interesting_ skit. Rilanna. That was her name.

We'd become great friends, I would make sure of that.

Genie had watched with a large smile throughout and stepped forward again, clapping as the last student sat back down. "Now, with all that nonsense out of the way, let's get down to what this class is all about!" A snap of the fingers and a chalkboard appeared at the end of the stage, which I had to turn in my seat to look at. Written on it was the course name and what I assumed were titles of something, songs, no doubt, considering where we were. "At the time they may not have been that great, but there have been songs written for just about every legend you can think of. Even myself, The Genie-" Our teacher flexed his "muscles", trying to show off for the class. "-have had a few songs written about myself. And these songs, these epic ballads, are just another way we celebrate history!"

The blue man flipped the board over to reveal a timeline. But instead of historical dates... "Take note here, children. Almost everything has a beginning and an end. Heck, just talk to the Dodo birds." He whipped out a long pointer stick from thin air, pointing to the leftmost half of the board. "Parts of culture changes over time. Centuries ago we were all stomping around in togas and kimonos, trying to sustain life in our own personal bubbles fo the world. Then we 'evolved' and became civilized Brits and Frenchies like William and Matthieu over here."

The Dynamic Duo waved as everyone giggled, we soaked in the attention. "Alright, alright. Only room enough for one ego here, and that's mine. Anyway, do you see what I'm geting at everybody? Even a good thing has to end, usually. But what's the one part of culture that has survived since the first caveman discovered fire?"

"Ooh! I know, I know!" A young boy, probably a freshman, piped up from the very back. He held an arm up in the air and flagged down Genie, who looked amused. Genie motioned for him to reply, and the boy grinned ear-to-ear. I thought his entire mouth might pop off. "Music!"

"That's right! Give the lad a prize!" As a flock of doves erupted from behind the boy - I finally remembered his name, David, because he'd been the sheepish dancer - I thought about all the crazy events that had taken place. A real life genie for a teacher, dancing and singing for almost an hour each day, and I still needed to properly get to know that lovely, young Rilanna.

Musical Studies was my new favorite class.

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**A/N: **I originally planned three segments instead of just Jin and Will, but I did not wish to lose readers' interest for the sake of it. I can add the third segment into the next chapter, where we'll make it up to the end of 4th Period at the _very least_.


	3. Tension Rising

**A/N:** Hey guys, guess what! I don't actually have my privileges back yet! *Dissappointment* So these past few months I've been testing my luck and trying to figure out how to properly get back into writing. I have found that if I type something up on my crotchety old 2001 computer - which doesn't connect to the internet anymore, sadly - I can put it on a USB and publish it in the middle of the night, when everyone's asleep, on my step-dad's fancy _gaming_ computer. And I've also found that I can access a site called shribDOTcom on my 3DS without trouble, so I can write abroad and discreetly and it'll be stored on the internet for up to 3 months after each save. Yay!

And so after reading over all my stories I've published to date - I do shamelessly recommend _On the Sideline_ or _Fragility_ if you're a fan of the TV show _Defiance_ - and looking over the review, the sweet and encouraging reviews from you guys months ago, I belted down and started working again. I had been doing organizing in my spare time during school so I had a base, but I've managed to figure out which characters have what classes with whom and when, so now I can properly write classroom scenes! Even though this chapter has none, but that's alright.

_But enough of my rambling_, enjoy the chapter I know I've kept you waiting for, and look out for updates whenever I can put them out!

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**Disclaimer: **I own no copyrights affiliated with any Disney film, characters, or items thereof and therefore do not have any monetary gain in writing and publishing this story. I do, however, own the rights to my own OC's to be mentioned in this story: Leanne Hawkins, Arthur Robinson, Renak, and Mitzi, as well as any others I may create as the story continues. I do not own the rights to any OC's submitted and used in the story, I only have expressed permission by their creators to exploit them.

_Enjoy!_

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**Matthieu Chandelier**

I stood at the edge of the stage waiting for William to finish his "quick chat" with Miss Rilanna, watching as the rest of the class left for their dorms or the cafeteria. Some walked slowly, a bit antsy about whether they'd like what they saw, but a brave few just strutted along calmly and confidently. It was time to see if that Dorm Quiz had really turned up the best possible roommates. As much as I wanted to know immediately, I was absolutely certain that William would come up with some excuse to skip introductions and see about food. And lo and behold the deranged fool did exactly that.

"Why waste time picking beds and muddling over rules when there is tea and treats to be had?"

And so we found ourselves moving not to the dorms but to the cafeteria. There were two sections apparently, a large indoor eating area with countless identical tables protruding from the tiled floor and an equally large outdoor multi-level terrace decorated quite like an honest café. It took no time to decide where we should eat, and William being who he was demanded that I stand guard while he fix us two meals. I made sure he promised not to overdo it.

Not a minute had passed when I saw a familiar brown mop of hair bob by over the edge of the crowd. I called out her name and immediately Leanne sought me out, waving as she came over with several other new faces.

"Hey Matt!" She took it upon herself to plop down into the seat next to me and propped her feet up in my lap. If we had been alone I may have let her silliness continue unmentioned, but I didn't have quite the appetite for being considered a push-over when it came to first impressions and so I shoved her feet down.

"Care to introduce your friends?" I asked as calmly as I could, smiling at them. There were six in all, and the group was entirely female except for one young lad who stood at the back. Leanne began to speak when one of the girls, quick to the get-go, held out a hand for me to shake.

"My name is Elle." When we finished the handshake she brushed back a stray piece of blonde hair and started suddenly, as though someone had snapped at her. "No, sorry, Raquel! M-My name's Raquel. But people call me Elle. All the time. Yeah." Raquel chuckled hastily and pushed the closest person in front of her, who in turn paled immensely.

"H-Hello." Was all she stuttered before biting her lip as though to seal it.

I sent a quick glance towards Leanne in question and she sighed, though not without a grin. "That's Xiu. You've met Rocky there. The others are Sahar, Emmaline, Sienna, and David's in back. Xiu and Emma are my roommates along with another girl named Renée, but she left to go meet a friend of hers. Said she'd catch up sometime later." Leanne waved off the closing statement with a wave.

"What's all this now!?"

Every ear within range perked at the outburst and every head turned to watch a white-haired Hatter's son fume at the crowd gathered around our table. For all it was worth I felt bad for the ones who didn't know William, for he wasn't truly upset. The entire world would know if he were honestly enraged.

Feeling a bit guilty I decided to defend the newcomers, standing to take William gently by the arm and lead him to the seat opposite mine. "Be calm, William. Miss Leanne is the friend you met earlier, and these are her friends."

If anyone had blinked they would have missed the total transformation in William's face. He grinned as wide as humanly possible and clapped his hands together. "Well then, merry be the friends of friends! Such good luck that I've acquired more food than poor Matthieu here could hardly stomach. Now we truly have a good party going! Anyone care to sing?"

Thankfully the group finally arrived at the conclusion that William was being jovial and grabbed seats to sit with us. At my right still sat Leanne and around the table it went myself, David, Sienna, Sahar, William, Xiu, Emmaline, and Raquel. Proper greetings ensued and both modest and boastful declarations made of who our parents were and why we were attending the school. Dear young Xiu finally opened up slightly and offered comments now and then, but she still shied away from most attempts to include her in the conversation. Raquel apologized for her awkwardness, which was honestly nothing new to me. It was hard to surprise someone who was best friends with a Mad Hatterling.

I was still furious at William, just to note. He had a tendency to take things too far, and I had made him swear after all not to go overboard, as it is said, on the meal. But any time I managed to settle a deadly glare on him he just smiled. And smiled. And then I would give up, because he was ever oblivious to me. He'd bend over backwards if perhaps Leanne would do to scold him, and I asked her to as well, but she was cut from almost the same cloth and just noted that we acted like an old married couple.

And I had to admit that at times we did. Which only made us more friends because I can always count on him, no matter how unorthodox his methods.

About halfway through lunch, well after everyone had eaten their fill and had settled with chatting or commenting on other students passing by, the strangest occurence took place. Leanne sprang to her feet out of the blue with a gleam in her eye and raced towards a young man walking past the table. To put the tragedy in short, he was knocked to the ground with no air to fill his lungs. Leanne dragged him towards our group with a huge smile and helped him to stand, showing him off like a prize. "Here's another friend of mine. We met during first period. His name is Jin Wen and he's from China just like Xiu! Isn't that so cool?"

I managed to get a good look at him, he with a sour expression to match such an odd attire. Without warning he locked eyes on something and stiffened. He looked back and forth between two points and I turned to see that he was looking between Miss Xiu and Miss Sahar. The latter of the two glared back at him, which was my signal that something was going to happen. A terrible something. I got to my feet just as Sahar did, but my target wasn't getting ready to run. Just in time I snatched Leanne aside as Sahar grabbed Jin Wen's wrist and pulled him close to whisper something in his ear, and by his expression I didn't need to be psychic to understand that it was a threat.

"So if I understand correctly," Jin Wen started furiously, pointing back at the table. "I can't be near you or any of your company but you are openly willing to allow my sister to?" And with that he wrenched back his arm to free it from her grip.

Sahar blinked in shock, glancing swiftly at Xiu before quite literally butting heads with the older sibling. "Look here, I told you I never want to see you again. I let you off easy. But if you come near me again, you _and_ your little sister are dead to me. Got it?"

Jin Wen huffed once, his nose flaring unattractively. He brushed Sahar aside and approached his little sister, ignoring the furious girl behind him. With no sound he made her rise from her seat and walked away. Xiu glanced back at the crowd, unwilling and unable to leave her brother's firm grip.

Sahar snorted as he left, dropping back into her seat and facing away from the table. She muttered a bit under her breath, and I could only catch one piece. "Steal my horse _and_ my friend..."

It was Emmaline who broke the tense silence, looking Sahar over with a worried glance. "What's the matter between you two, may I ask?" It was the question on all our minds, and the poor girl had so much attention from the entire group that she stood again, flustered and seething, and left before we could convince her not to. No one spoke after a while. Leanne shifted between staring after Jin Wen and Sahar. Raquel and Emmaline exchanged looks of surprise. Sienna stared down at the table, picking idly at the edge, while David tried acting like nothing happened.

Only dear William could sum up a weak smile. "Well, that certainly was exciting!"

**Thyme**

I don't really remember what I expected from Disney Academy. Maybe I had imagined some amazing school where I could learn alongside the others, humans I mean, and be considered an equal. Yeah, what was I thinking?

My first class of the day was weird - InterSpecies Communication or something like that - but some good that did. They had some magic spell cast that literally made it so we couldn't talk to each other. All I hear is gobbling from the other students, and as far as I could tell I just sounded like an ordinary rat to them. I was back to square one. Of course the teachers didn't mind, we could hear them and they could hear us. And all they're really teaching us is glorified sign language. Why did I sign up for this class?

And then I have Musical Studies. Well that's not all bad I guess, we were promised a big musical at the end of the year with the other classes. But could they have singled us out more? The entire class was a literal pack of animals, and I only reach most of their ankles. Sheesh.

"Why did I sign up for this school?" I sighed, pacing along the railing of the Dorm Quarter terrace. I stopped only to look up at Renée, the only one I really knew from anywhere else. She was a good kid, confident and fierce like her mom, and not too bad of a looker. Not that I should comment, I'm a rat. Even if I liked her that way - which I don't - it wouldn't be the most healthy relationship.

She stooped down to look me dead in the eye, her long orange curls bouncing limply beside her face. Renée smiled and reached forward to run the tip of her pointer finger over my head, something akin to messing up another's hair to cheer them up. "You signed up to prove your worth." She reassured, her French accent still very prominent. Of course that had never been too out of the ordinary, she grew up in France and now she's here at an academy where people from all over the world - no sorry, _worlds_ - came to learn. But people still passed the two of us by and snickered because she was talking to a _rat_.

"Yeah, well guess what: I already can't stand it. They don't even offer Home Economics for the animal students!" I began pacing again, waving my arms to emphasize my exasperation. "Which I don't really need but come _on_. It's the principle of the thing! So I'm only a pawful of inches tall? I can cook. My dad, for Pete's sake, can cook- It's why I'm here!"

Renée stood up, looking down at me with the same eyes as Colette, though green and almost sharper. "You are here to be the best. _We_ are here to become the best. So we have to work around restrictions, we already have. We both started from the bottom at _La Ratatouille_, and if we have to do it again _we will_. Are we in agreement?" She held out a hand, pointing her finger for me to take.

I puffed up my chest and shook her finger immediately, already spurred by her speech. "You're right. We'll make them see what's wrong. Even if it takes the whole year."

Renée gave me a proud smile and placed a hand on her hip. "You know, it's very weird." She began walking back towards the cafeteria, and I followed close behind.

"What is?" I asked. The comment was so random that I felt that I'd be embarassed for not already realizing it.

"Hearing you speak." She admitted simply, pausing to think on the subject before continuing. After all, it was hard to wrap my own mind around the idea that one could just wave a wand in this world and magically make every animal - every foreign kid, for that matter - speak the same common tongue. "People always wonder if animals even do _speak_ with their 'voices', and your voice is just so... surprising."

I smirked at this, cutting her to the quick. "Surprising?"

Renée chuckled quietly, stopping at the end of the sidewalk. I could see the others gathered outside. They were chatting and arguing and laughing. And soon Renée would be joining them. "It's fitting. It suits you so well that I could have never seen it coming." Someone from the crowd called her name and she glanced swiftly in their direction before looking at me. She smiled but I could tell she didn't want me to get upset. "We'll meet after my last class. Every night, an hour before curfew. You will come?"

"Of course." I assured her, waving her off. "We'll find some way to practice cooking. Now go on, go mingle with the masses." Renée took off after a final good-bye and I scurried back towards the Dorm Quarter. Or more specifically what I had come to call Animal Alley. Because even when it came to dorms they refused to put us in the same place as the others.

It was in the northern corner of the area, in between the lake and the courtyard. A long brick path led to what appeared to me to be a group of fancy, glass dog hotels, which for all I knew it was. Turned out that the entire animal student body came out to about half as many humans, but it still looked like a lot when they were all gathered and finding their nests. Many of them were fifteen or so times my size, but that meant I could slip between their paws and hooves and climb my way up to the board which held dorm assignments. I finally found mine after a minute of searching: Building C, Room 3. I had two roommates, Brayden and Viserys. Neither name struck me as familiar, but they certainly were odd.

Building C turned out to be fairly clean, although from the outside it looked the same as the others. As I walked down the hall, toting the camoflauge Ken doll backpack with all my necessities, I noticed that at least the school had made sure each door was big enough - or small enough - to fit its occupants. I came to my door and saw that it was outfitted like an old cartoon, with a small door fitted inside the larger one. And no doorknobs for those with lack of opposable thumbs, although the door and the bolt lock could be turned with a button on the ground.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the room was that the ceiling was painted to be a night sky, though the constellations were lost to me. And I knew my constellations.

"Hey there, room-mate." I had failed to notice that the room was occupied. Sitting on the bottom bunk of the only _real_ bed in the room was a chicken. Or I suppose he was a chicken, he had all the parts: the beak, the feathers, the three-toed feet. But he was the size and shape of a ten year old kid, even dressed like one. He said the word roommate as if he wasn't quite certain I was his new best friend. "I-I hope you don't mind, I was told the cave was for the bigger guy and usually bottom just goes to whoever gets there first. I can go up top, if you really want."

"No. No, that's alright. I think it'll be fine." I spotted the cave he was talking about - an actual cave made of rocks and pebbles. That made me a bit antsy, so I scurried up to the top bunk via a perfectly sized ladder and laid my bag down. I kind of wanted to continue to ignore the chicken guy, but I figured he really _would_ become my closest friend here aside from Renée. I climbed halfway down the ladder, leaning sideways against it casually. "So, uh... My name's Thyme. My dad is Remy. We're... Well, we're chefs, if you can believe it."

"Really? Like professional chefs?" He hopped up and down to turn in his seat, looking at me with amazement. "That's pretty amazing. I hear it takes years to master cooking. I'm Brayden, by the way. Brayden R. Little. My pop is Chicken Little."

I tried acting like that was some big deal, nodding along as he spoke. But if I had to be honest with myself I had no clue who or what he was talking about. "Really, now?"

"Oh yeah." Brayden went on enthusiastically, smiling wide. "But don't let his popularity change how you see me. I'm just another cool chicken looking for a good education."

I couldn't help but smile at his naivety, I mean he was actually adorable. And bearable, which meant that even if we didn't hit it off I could deal with him being there in the background. "You've got it, my friend. Just another Average Joe amongst Average Joes."

It didn't take long for me to unpack what I couldn't keep in my bag and lay it out on the bed. A few cookbooks that I hadn't yet memorized and little mementos from home. Uncle Emil wouldn't let me leave without his most precious possession, a petrified mosquito encased in solid amber he "found" in some dusty old museum. As gross and creepy as it was, I felt obligated to bring it with me. Even Linguini had given me a small wallet card with the picture Renée and I took our first day of working together. These I laid on the headboard of the bed, and I stepped back to let it sink in. This was my new home for the year.

The door creaked open once more, the full-sized one then, and in walked the largest lion I had ever seen. But unlike the lions you saw in photos his fur was darker, which made him seem all the more terrifying. I mean, I'm brave to boot, but I knew my limits. And this guy was sending off some seriously negative feelings. It's hard not to when the first thing you say is "Oh great, pipsqueaks."

But I do give credit where credit's due, Brayden must have either been moronic or desperate for friends, because he just waltzed right up to the lion and saluted. Which confused both the lion and myself. "Hi there, you must be Viserys. I'm Brayden Little, and our other roomy is Thyme up on the top bunk." He pointed up to where I stood and I swear I wanted to go down there and smack the stupid out of that boy.

"Right." Was all Viserys said for awhile. He stood there staring around the room, sniffing once or twice. "So, here's the deal: I was expecting someone a bit more..." He trailed off, looking down at Brayden. "Well, more. So you guys stick to your beds, I'll stick to mine. Everybody's happy. Good? Good." And without even waiting for a response he padded over to investigate his new cave bed. Which I hoped was filled with pointy stones that would keep him up all night. The arrogance of this guy! Even I tried to at least be nice to people I just met.

Brayden stood in the same spot, a bit shocked by Viserys' behavior. I climbed down and onto his shoulder, shrugging my own. "Don't worry too much, he'll come around."

"Yeah." Brayden muttered, although his voice was a bit hollow. "Let's hope so."


	4. Nothing Beats a Good Friend

**A/N:** Wow. Without Author's Notes or disclaimers this chapter is 5,111 words long. That's longer than every individual chapter to date, _plus_ A/Ns and whatnot. Welcome to the last chapter of the first day of school! I decided about halfway through this chapter that it was time to move along with the story, but I needed to make up for lost time so I left in the second section for multiple reasons, some personal. c: I happen to like both parts of this chapter, even though they both started a bit rough. And I want you guys to see the normal side of Sahar instead of just a raging ball of hate for Jin Wen, as well as introduce Cass who, in my opinion, is probably one of the coolest female submissions I received.

Also, henceforth any characters mentioned but not named - exceptions being Jin Wen, who is mentioned during Cassiopeia's class but never named (simply out of her personality) - are not submissions and therefore will only make appearances during certain occasions, such as a particular class or when the entire school is gathered. This is only to avoid adding _more_ names to the already giant list of _**32 **_students. Yeah that's right. I counted them _all_. o.e

And has anyone noticed the differences in everyone's perspective? Such as students from past eras describing modern day tech? Bceause I'm trying to weave that into the story - especialy the latter half of this chapter - as an effect. No one seems to have commented on it yet, so I'm not sure if people really paid attention to it. Just a thought.

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**Disclaimer: **I own no copyrights affiliated with any Disney film, characters, or items thereof and therefore do not have any monetary gain in writing and publishing this story. I do, however, own the rights to my own OC's to be mentioned in this story: Leanne Hawkins, Arthur Robinson, Renak, and Mitzi, as well as any others I may create as the story continues. I do not own the rights to any OC's submitted and used in the story, I only have expressed permission by their creators to exploit them.

_Enjoy!_

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**Cassiopeia Raiden**

Half of the day was over and yet it was still kind of... boring. I'm not sure, but somehow it didn't seem to live up to my expectations yet. Although I could at least say my roommates - Rilanna and Armelle, I believe - and the food were enough to make me stay and enjoy the simple things. Although I was a bit worried at first, having two sophomores for roommates and all. But Riley, as she insisted I call her, was pretty liberal and easy-going, and Army, as I insisted on calling her, stated she would do her best to keep her cleaning tendencies in check. Not that I minded coming home to a clean dorm.

Lunch went by almost too quickly and went out with a bang after a couple of underclassmen had a fight. Well, argument. There was almost no violence, so the term "fight" didn't fit the bill. After that the whole school was in a buzz, because off in another area of the school a real fight had happened, injuries and all. Except it was just a bunch of animals. Well I guess I shouldn't say it in that way, or Phil would kill me. It was just a bunch of animal _students_.

Now I was off to whatever my next class was, I recall it being about debates as that happened to be my forté. It was taught by some spazzy guy with glasses. Meelo? No, Milo. Mr. Thatch. Because that's _totally_ better.

I sat somewhere near the very middle of the classroom, with a couple of familiar faces nearby from my previous classes. Some nerd from my Inter-Species class sat sat to my right. His name was Arthur, but I don't remember who his parents were. And then in front of me sat Dean and Mathis side-by-side, although I don't recall them being friends. And near the back of the room was another guy I had met in the class beforehand, but his name was just so wierd that I didn't bother _trying_ to remember.

"Good afternoon class." Mr. Thatch began, standing up from his desk to hover in front of the chalk board. "For those of you who haven't had me yet today, my name is Milo Thatch. Call me Milo or Mr. Thatch, I won't mind either. Welcome to Debating Facts and Fiction." Here he turned to write the class' name on the board, and afterwards he went to the far edge of the board to pull on a second layer of the board which had pre-written text on it.

"Now I know most of you must be tired of naming names, yours and your parents'," He continued, turning on his heel to look back at us. "So we can save introductions for tomorrow. My lesson plan for today is just to get you introduced to what this class is about. I'm going to ask a few questions and you just raise your hand if it happens to apply to you. First question: how many of you have officially, or semi-officially, debated a topic?"

Most of the class' hands went up, even mine, and Mr. Thatch smiled. He sat down on the edge of his desk, arms crossed casually. "Good. Now onto my strangest question, which is how many of you believe in something - an animal or a country, anything really - that others say doesn't exist?" Less hands came up then. Personally I wasn't sure if I needed to. I had seen monsters beaten by my father in the past that people here whom I mentioned it to just brushed off as stories. But the thing was they _were_ real. "Well that's alright, wouldn't be fun without opposition. Now we've gotten to the core of what this class is about."

"Just as the name suggest, this is a class where we will split into teams and debate the credibility of common folk tales and myths. And after each debate we will explore the actual literature that shows each example. Maybe we'll find a piece where the myth could be proven true." His grin grew wider then, which both amused me and creeped me out.

"So," Mr. Thatch said suddenly, standing again and clapping his hands together. "to get into the swing of things I've decided we'll have a mock debate. No winners or losers, just a friendly passing of perspective. Does anyone have any ideas on what we should debate?"

No one answered immediately. I tried thinking of a few ideas, but I couldn't imagine most of them being arguable. I heard a whisper coming from Mathis but before I could try to decode it Mr. Thatch spoke up. "Yes, what was your idea, sir?"

Mathis stiffened and glanced up to make sure he was the one being talked to. Mr. Thatch had fixed him in a bemused stare, and I couldn't help but snicker along with the class at his misfortune. Mathis sniffed once, sitting up and trying to play it off as casually as he could. "I, uh... I was thinking the idea of a school like this even existing. After all, I was told we're in an entirely different dimension from our homes. Would a school like this exist in our own worlds?"

I just stared at him. That was the last thing I expected anyone to say. Although strangely enough he had a point. Mr. Thatch thought it over for a second before shaking his head. "I'm not so certain that'll work. But it's still something nice to think over. I know they'd never have a school this fancy back in Washington."

Just then a hand rose somewhere to my left. I had no clue who the person was, but he looked rather smug as Mr. Thatch motioned for him to speak. "Does the topic have to be about myths? It _is_ practice, so I don't see why not."

"Actually that's a very good point." A strange sound like a metallic _clink_ sounded from behind Mr. Thatch and he stood with a sheepish grin to move around his desk. "I'll get that. A-And you guys just shoot out some ideas. Make sure it's arguable, though." My attention was wrapped on what the teacher was doing by then. He had a strange black box sitting in front of him with a smaller, longer one that he was poking at with his fingers. I kind of thought he was going insane.

"I got it!" A sudden exclamation from right behind me jolted me from my concentration and my seat. I turned to see it was some brown-haired boy, grinning as bright as the sun. "Is this school really better than a regular one?"

A scoff from the other side of the room snagged both of our attentions. A girl looking bored out of her mind had sat straight in her seat at his question. "Obviously not, I had to leave all of my friends behind just to learn _etiquette_ and how to talk to _animals_. Pah!"

Dean piped up, leaning back in his seat. "Oh please, you'll see them again once you graduate. Besides, there are more amazing classes you could take. It's your own fault for signing up for those classes."

"I didn't pick them, my papa did!"

"Alright, calm down!" Mr. Thatch walked back to the front of the class, waving a hand in the air to grab everyone's attention. "Looks like we've found our topic. Usually I'd pick the teams at random, but I think for this one I'll let you decide on your own. I'll give you three minutes to choose your team, proponents to my left and opponents to my right, and then we'll start."

Suddenly the room was full of bodies milling about to pick a side. I saw that Arthur and "that boy" - who's name I still don't want to bother with; I think I'll just call him Jason - were moving to the opponent side. Jason had to ask the teacher something first, apparently, but he sidled in beside the blonde nerd. Surprisingly every other person whose name I knew was on the proponent side, even weirdo Mathis, and the brown-haired guy who had suggested the idea had joined them. I moved to stand next to him, a smirk planted firmly on my lips.

"Why did you bother asking the question if you're on this side?" I inquired. He turned his head to smile at me, shrugging a bit. "You don't know?"

"I know why." He corrected me, chuckling. "'Cause it was the only point worth arguin', and 'cause I want to see how many people don' like it here."

We both leaned over to look at the opponent side, which seemed only slightly shorter on members than our own side. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, which made the girl who had spoken earlier glare in my direction. "Well, you've got your answer."

He laughed too, and we tried to act like there was nothing wrong. "I sure do."

"Time's up!" The class stood at attention as Mr. Thatch stood at the board, erasing parts to make room for a two column table. "Here's how it'll go: I'll flip a coin to decide who goes first, and then we'll go back and forth down the line until we run out of contendors on both sides. Since the opponents have fewer people, I'll let volunteers come back to finish up. I'll be writing down each point made so we can review later."

Mr. Thatch fished out some kind of copper token from his pocket and balanced it on his thumb. Before I knew what was going on he had flicked it up and caught it again in his hand. I leaned forward slightly to try and see what was going on. "Heads. Proponents go first."

Up first, unsurprisingly, was Dean. He cleared his throat before starting, looking pointedly at the opposing side. "Disney Academy is infinitely greater than any ordinary public school as the teachers are among only the best in their fields, and the Academy offers the widest course diversity I have seen to date in any grade school."

"Oh really?" His opponent brushed up against him, facing the entire proponent side. "Well as far as I can see, the only courses available for both kinds of students - humans and animals - are physical education and InterSpecies Communication. That doesn't seem quite fair. I happen to have a few friends of the animal variety."

From there it went quite the same. Someone would say that the animal students were lucky to be allowed into the school at all - which earned a stern warning from the teacher about their attitude - and another would argue that alongside being left out they had to leave a place where they could learn alongside their own kind. But everyone has to leave friends when they go to new schools, they said. But it's not fair that our friends can't come with us, others said. By the time my turn came we had wandered onto the topic of allowing hero _and _villain children into the school.

"They have the same blood as their parents," My opponent argued. "There's always the possibility that they could turn evil. That makes it unsafe for the other students at the Academy."

I laughed defiantly at this notion, laying a hand on their shoulder. "The chances aren't based on blood. Everyone has a choice to be who they want to become. And by that logic you have every bit of a chance to go bad, too. _Everyone_ has that chance. It just takes motivation to become evil. All great evil needs a motive. Even Hades, rotten to the core, only became that way because my grandpa stu- I mean, _Zeus_, stuck him in the Underworld for all of eternity.

"If it were unsafe to let children of villainous people into the school, then I would be under supicion. After all, my mother was quite the no-good-doer for awhile. I still deserve to be here, and so do all the others."

Everyone went quiet for a second. I kind of felt bad, because I know I would feel the same way as my opponent if Hades happened to have a son here, or perhaps Cerberus, since they're letting in animals. But it's the job of a debater to know enough to argue both sides if the need comes to it.

Mr. Thatch cleared his throat, looking up towards some circular object hanging on the wall. "Well that's about all the time we have. Make sure you have some paper and something to write with. We'll take notes during and after every debate."

"But I don't have any paper!"

Mr. Thatch sighed, tapping his head with the chalk eraser. "I think there's a school store in the library run by the Duck triplets. They should have everything you need as far as the basics."

Everyone dispersed to their seats, packing up and chatting to those they knew about whatever came to mind. I sat back in my seat with a huff, having no real possessions to tote around. Dean was chatting with Mathis, mostly about the debate. Arthur was gone, probably behind me somewhere to talk with someone else. I was about to close my eyes when I felt something tapping my shoulder, and I turned to see the brown-haired boy was holding out a hand to shake.

"I never got your name. I am Erik." I smiled - because he was still smiling as brightly as earlier and it was infectious - and shook his hand gently.

"Cassiopeia, but if that's too hard you can call me Cass." He nodded and - if it were physically possible - smiled even wider. He promptly turned back to look around the room. The bell rang before I could sum up anything else to say to him, but I was glad to have met him. I knew I wouldn't regret getting to know this one.

**Sahar Masih**

Lunch had been hell. It didn't make it any better that my class directly after had _him_ in it. He seriously thought that he could try to apologize? It may have been a few years ago, but it hadn't been _that_ long. He stole from me and my father and then thought it was fine to just say he was sorry! I still remembered the horse he stole, her color and her name. Nashira had been a paint mare, our fastest and brightest. Gone. I'd never seen her since.

But after the confrontation at the cafeteria I had promised myself not to get overworked about him again. Not unless he made a move. And so I moved along to my next class, the fifth that day with only a few left after. When it came time to pick out my scheldule my father and I both sat together trying to figure out what each course was about. Some of them were simple enough to choose, like Multi-Cultural Studies. That class had been just before lunch, and it left me in relatively high spirits. But the rest of my schedule had been chosen on a whim and based on whether it sounded interesting. This class, Engineering, had been one of those classes.

I suppose I had expected it to be something like a blacksmith's work place. A fire for smelting and an anvil, the basics. But it must have slipped my mind that so many of the students and teachers came from what were called "modern worlds". Their technology far surpassed others, and so to accomadate much of the school's layout was a mix of old and new systems. Engineering, it seemed, had been part of that mix.

I walked into the room, not sure of what I'd find, and stopped dead in my tracks. The classroom had obviously been used before the school year had started, as different projects were littered around the room on different benches and tables - some even suspended in the air by a rope of metal rings. A handful of students were walking about looking for a place to sit. One was even so bold as to begin working on a piece of equipment close to the front of the room.

"Make way! Excuse me, Sahar!"

I jumped to the side, turning to see my new friend Leanne burst into the room with a long, thick hunk of metal in tow. She dragged the metal across the room - earning glares from other students as the thing screeched against the polished floor - and stopped beside the one student who was already working. "Audrey, thanks for letting me bring it in. I just don't have _any_ room for Hyperion in my dorm and I need to get it fixed before dad finds out an-"

"_Cállate_." The girl, Audrey, turned away from her current project to look at the hunk of metal Leanne had brought in. I noticed then that despite her height Audrey looked very mature in her features. A bit old for a student. "It's fine, Leo. I'll fix her up, as long as you help every night. I won't tell Jim, either."

That's when realization dawned on me. Audrey wasn't a student, she was the teacher! Leanne grinned the widest I'd seen yet, reaching out to hug Audrey who just smirked and patted her shoulder. "Bless you Audrey Ramirez!"

"All right, go stand with the others." Audrey plucked the student off of her and gently pushed her toward the crowd. With a few loud claps she raised her voice. "Gather 'round people! The quicker we get this done the better."

I shuffled over with the rest of the class, making a point to stand next to Leanne. We shared a relieved glance and I noticed Emmaline and David standing in the mix of students. After everyone had gathered and Audrey had placed the metal - I mean, _Hyperion_ - off to the side, she stood in front of the crowd and picked up a slim piece of wood from a nearby work bench. I could just make out a few papers laying on the wooden board.

"Okay, welcome to Engineering. I'm Audrey. _Just_, Audrey. This class is about yadda yadda, blah blah. _Otras cosas_... Here we are." Here she flipped over a paper on the board. "During this class you will all work in pairs. Your partner is going to work alongside you with every project, unless I say otherwise, so I suggest you try to get along. First pair is David Fitzherbert and... Mathis Fontaine."

Curiousity drove me to glance over at David. He was looking around the room for his partner, who eventually walked out into the open and towards David. The two stood there awkwardly for a moment before Audrey continued, turning their attention to the teacher. "Dean Armitage and Leanne Hawkins."

Leanne raised an arm into the air, waving it ever so slightly with a cheeky smile. "Present!"

The whole class chuckled at that. A boy with ink black hair walked up to her, holding out a hand for her to shake. "Pleasure to be working with you, miss."

"Miss?" Leanne scoffed, taking his hand into a firm grip. "I'm no lady, Mr. Arm-i-tage. Just address me by Leo." Dean blinked in surprise at her reply. A faint smile emerged on his lips but he couldn't say much more as the list continued.

More than half of the class had been paired up by the time Audrey reached me. Emmaline had been stuck with some other girl with the same kind of black hair as Dean. "Sahar Masih and Arthur Robinson."

At least I had been paired with a familiar face. Arthur and I shared Multi-Cultural Studies with Leanne and some of my other friends. The blonde walked over, visibly relieved like I was that he had been paired with a familiar face. "Hey Sahar."

"Hi, Arthur." I gave him a quick smile before turning back to Audrey. She eventually reached the end of the list and tossed the board in her hand onto her work table. A quick glance over the groups and then a simple nod later, she motioned to the benches around the room.

"Pick a place to work. Each station has some scrap metal and wiring, basic neccesities and tools. Today you can work together or alone, but I need to test what you know about engineering and mechanics." At this a few faces lit up around the room, Leanne and Arthur included. "But dont be stupid about anything. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Use the gloves and goggles at your stations. Don't harm each other with the equipment. First day or not, I _will_ have you suspended for misuse of my equipment. Dismissed."

In a flash Leanne took off to the nearest bench and started looking at everything on its surface. I glanced over at Arthur, who was watching her as well, and we both had to smile at her enthusiasm. Approaching our bench, I resumed my state of severe culture shock. I'd picked up a few trades during my travels with my father - different styles of sword fighting, different languages, how to make iron tools - but this had to be... _leagues_ outside of my department.

Just as I was about to walk over to Audrey and formally ask to change classes, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Arthur there with a knowing look of pity. "Let's... just start small."

A few minutes later we were both sitting at the bench, with Arthur showing me some of what each tool did. Occasionally he'd pick up a part of the scrap metal and say where it came from or what it should have been. "I can't believe they'd just throw out clock parts. I mean you can use these for all sorts of inventions."

I just stared at him as we "worked", still digesting every bit of information. He picked at the parts to what he called a clock thoroughly, his entire demeanor changing. I could practically see his mind working. "Care to show me? Using that metal, I mean. You make it sound like some sort of revolution."

"O-Of course." Arthur chuckled, standing up from his stool. "Just give me a second, I need to grab something." He walked off to the far side of the classroom, shaking his head every now and then.

"Psst!"

I turned swiftly, looking about for the source of the sound. Leanne was staring at me intently, a smirk on her lips. She and Dean had apparently opted for a group effort, because he whispered something to her. Before he knew it she had reached up to smack his head, frowning at him. "_You_ pay attention, Dean."

A quick burst of laughter sounded behind me, and I glanced back to see Arthur had returned. "Poor soul. Anyway, hopefully this will be all we need." He had an armful of extra metal and a few tools I didn't recognize from his first explanation.

For the rest of the class it was a fairly basic system. Arthur would tinker with his mechanism and I would do whatever he asked, like holding pieces in place or grabbing another tool for him. I'd cast my gaze around the room every now and then, specifically watching people I knew. Emmaline seemed to have the hang of things, and I was quite happy to see that even she was depending on her partner. David and Mathis were getting along, but that was because they had decided to work independently. And about halfway through class Leanne declared to the world that she and Dean were finished with their project, before earning a quick verbal jibe from Dean. The one consistency I noticed was that everyone, even the groups of people I didn't know, seemed to be working on large projects. Ours was... considerably smaller. It fit in the palm of my hand.

Just as I thought time would run out Arthur sat straight, holding the device up for the both of us to see. "There. It's not entirely fancy, no weather updates or holographic news reports, but it's still useful. And handmade." I squinted my eyes to look at the thing, noting that he had even thought to polish the metal so that it gleamed.

"What does it-" Mid-sentence a loud noise pierced the air, like a dozen elephants trumpeting. Some of the students yelled in exclamation, and all eyes turned on Audrey. She stood at the forefront, a pair of fuzzy ear muffs on and holding a strangely shaped can.

"Time's up. Be ready to present what you've made." Somewhere in the very back of the room came a groan, and I glanced instinctly at Arthur's device. It didn't look very spectacular, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him that. But amazingly enough when I looked at Arthur he was smiling like an idiot.

Two groups went up - one with something called a "flamethrower" that backfired and scorched their faces and another with just a heap of metal, as neither knew a single thing about engineering - before Leanne cheerily volunteered she and her partner. Dean trudged after her, carrying their finished product. Although it was still larger than mine and Arthur's mechanism, it had turned out smaller than I had supposed it would.

"Ahem." Leanne began with a smile, snatching the device from her partner's hands. "Introducing my latest and greatest invention! For this I require a volunteer." She scanned the crowd, pointing to a girl near the back. "Yes, there we go. Describe to me the most outlandish creature you can imagine."

I turned in my seat to find the girl, and I hadn't even thought that it could be Emmaline. I smiled without even really thinking about it, eager to hear what she would reply with. "A white fox with a large bushy tail. It has small red eyes and a hollow red circle on its back. Oh, and it has long pink-tipped ears falling from its ears."

Leanne closed her eyes while I tried processing what Emmaline had just said. Ears coming from its ears? "Alright." I jerked my head up as Leanne placed the device - it almost looked like a hat - on top of her head. A moment of silence passed before lights flashed along the brim, and suddenly an image suspended in the air shined down towards the floor. "Does it look like this?"

It looked to me almost exactly as Emmaline had described. Emmaline herself nodded, laughing behind a hand at the image. She clapped for Leanne, who in turned bowed for the praise. And just as miraculously the image hat fell from her head and landed with a _thump_ on the floor, sparking and catching fire.

"Shit!" Leanne jumped back from the fire. Audrey moved between the flaming hat and the students, yelling at Dean to get a fire extuinguisher. It took a few moments for the chaos to calm down, and then everyone hurried to get their devices shown and out of the way. Not long after Leanne's exhibition Arthur decided to stand up, motioning for me to follow.

"Admittedly I had to do most of the work Mrs. Ra-" A throat cleared and Arthur corrected himself. "Audrey. But Sahar helped to come up with the idea and it was a two person job. For that, I'd like her to tell you what it does."

In an instant I was floored. He couldn't expect me to explain, I had no earthly idea what the thing even was! All I knew was that it had parts from something called a clock and that it was extremely small. "I-I..."

Arthur leaned over, whispering behind a hand. "Just call it something cool, like 'Wonder Watch' or whatever. When you see a blue light, I want you to throw something at me and duck. Trust me." With that he stepped away, fiddling with the palm-sized device.

Still unsure of how this would go, I stepped forward to speak. "I... _We_, uh... Decided to make the... Wonder Watch." A few snickers broke out and I could _feel_ the blush spreading over my face. Arthur brought their attention to him by holding up the small device, pressing the small knob on its side. It flashed once before emitting a faint blue light that covered him from head to toe. He gave me a thumbs up, and I slowly grabbed the nearest object: a screwdriver. "Now, w-watch with amazement as it... does whatever it does."

I counted off a quick three second countdown before chucking the tool at Arthur and crouching down. I thanked every deity I could name that he'd given me fair warning, because the screwdriver reflected off of an invisible barrier and lodged deep into the wall behind me. A few gasps came from the class but - and my fears were drained right out by noticing this - Leanne was smiling and I could hear a quiet "Amazing" from her.

Audrey clapped slowly, although she wasn't exactly smiling. "Very nice. Although next time I expect Sahar to contribute more. If I didn't know any better I'd say you've built one before, Arthur."

Arthur shrugged, powering down the Wonder Watch. "Well, not exactly." He looked at the device, smiling with a bit of sentiment. "But my dad came up with a watch very much like this one. I, uh, had to make do with what we had. It's a miracle the parts were even here. The school must have unplugged all the stops."

"Yes, yes. Well, let's keep it moving. Next pair." Audrey said, dismissing us. Once we were both seated Arthur placed the Wonder Watch down on the table and slid it across to me.

I just stared down at it, marvelling for a moment in its hidden magic. "You should keep it." My gaze flicked over to him. He was smiling, though with less intensity than before. "It could come in handy. Plus, it's your first invention. I mean usually people have a leather strap on it so they can wear it on their wrists, but I don't happen to have that kind of gear on me. And the actual watch has Roman numerals, though I guess when I think about where you came from Arabic numerals would be fi-"

"Thank you, Arthur." I said simply, cracking a humored smile.

He blinked, surprised at himself for rambling. Then he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, pretending to watch the next group's exhibition. "You're welcome."

* * *

Kudos and internet cookies to whoever can tell me the name of the animal Emmaline described. I literally took all of the originality out that part because I was too lazy to think of anything. XD And don't forget to stop by the (still in construction) sister site: disney-campusDOTwebsDOTcom


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